Chapter 23: Combustion

Inside the laboratory, Reed sat on a chair, spreading his hand wide like a large fan. He waved it vigorously, attempting to stir the air and bring himself some relief from the oppressive heat.

"Whoosh... Why is it so hot?"

Reed kept fanning himself, desperate for even the faintest breeze. His hand moved rapidly, slicing through the surrounding air, but no matter how hard he tried, the temperature in the lab continued to climb. Sweat dripped from his forehead, the burning sensation making him uneasy.

Could the temperature control system be broken? No, that didn't make sense. S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't make such a basic mistake.

The heat wave persisted, intensifying to an unbearable level. The air grew thick, making it harder to breathe as if the oxygen itself was being scorched away.

Reed's clothes clung to his body, damp with sweat and exuding faint traces of steam from the rising heat. It felt like invisible flames were licking at his skin, making his breathing shallow and labored. His throat felt parched, as though it, too, was on fire.

The temperature inside the lab had exceeded all reasonable limits, turning the room into a blazing furnace. The equipment and instruments began to emit strained, whining noises, unable to endure the extreme conditions.

"What's happening? Fury?! Sue?! This isn't funny—this joke isn't funny at all!"

Frustrated, Reed stormed toward the lab's door, slamming his hand against the control panel.

"Open the door! I'm Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards! Let me out!" he shouted, hoping the system would recognize his identity and unlock the door.

But the control panel only beeped twice in response, displaying a cold message: "Identity not recognized. No match found in the database."

"That's impossible! I'm a registered hero! I have records in S.H.I.E.L.D.!" he roared, slamming his fist against the unyielding door.

Cursing under his breath, Reed glanced around the room, his elastic body springing into action. Compressing himself like a coiled spring, he launched toward a vent on the ceiling in a desperate bid for escape.

Yet as he grabbed at the slats of the vent, his hands slipped on the smooth metal surface. Panic surged through him as he dropped back to the floor.

Things went from bad to worse when an ominous sound came from one of the walls.

Reed's eyes widened in horror as a gun barrel emerged from the wall. Before he could react, it unleashed a torrent of flames, a fiery tongue lashing toward him.

"Damn it! Who's trying to kill me?!"

Reed's body softened and stretched like rubber, his unique abilities allowing him to dodge the flames with rapid, elastic movements. He coiled and uncoiled, springing from one spot to another to evade the searing fire.

"Fury! Are you watching the cameras? Get me out of here!"

There was no response from Fury, only the relentless roar of flames as more gun barrels emerged from the walls, spewing fire in all directions.

The lab became an inferno, the flames spreading uncontrollably. Reed darted and dodged as best as he could, but the firepower only intensified. The walls were alive with nozzles, each one vomiting forth waves of scorching heat, until the room was consumed by a sea of fire.

Lab coats, chairs, and equipment were all engulfed, crackling as they burned. Chemicals spilled from shattered containers, igniting with violent explosions that fueled the flames further. The walls turned black, beginning to melt and drip with molten residue.

The scene was chaotic—a hellish nightmare of fire and destruction. Reed could feel his clothes melting onto his skin as the unbearable heat battered his body.

Why?

Why?!

WHY?!

Reed collapsed by the central lab bench, his gaze locking onto a corpse atop it. The flesh on the body melted under the flames, exposing broken bones. A spark of realization flickered in Reed's mind.

He threw his head back and laughed maniacally, his voice echoing through the inferno.

"Fury! You one-eyed bastard! I know what you're afraid of! You're afraid of the future!"

His laughter was tinged with madness and despair.

"You blind fool! Can't you see? Resistance is futile! Why not join the evolved? Don't you understand the beauty of immortality?"

As the fire scorched him further, Reed's body began to irreversibly melt. The flames devoured his elastic muscles, which lost their spring-like quality. His skin liquefied, dripping onto the floor as a burning, molten mass.

"Ah—DAMN IT! This hurts like hell!"

"Just a few more minutes! A few more minutes and I could have evolved Sue and the others! We would have—"

His words choked off as his form disintegrated, becoming an unrecognizable, twisted heap.

His nose slid down to his mouth, one eye liquefied into a puddle, while the other stretched unnaturally from its socket. An ear dripped down his leg. He no longer resembled a human, his body devolving into a grotesque lump of formless matter.

Anyone who looked at him now would never believe he was once a living, breathing human being. Yet, even as he melted, his voice roared with fury and anguish.

"You think killing me will save you? You'll never escape the undead! You're only delaying the inevitable!"

"ARGH! My hands!"

The fire consumed what remained of Reed, his screams fading into the crackling inferno. His final words echoed faintly in the smoldering air:

"I… am… not… done…"

As time passed, the flames subsided, leaving the room in eerie silence. The walls returned to their original state as the gun barrels retracted and disappeared, as if they had never been there.

Everything had been reduced to ash and charcoal, save for a single, blackened heap at the center of the room.

The scorched remnants of Reed's body were brittle and lifeless, their elastic qualities long gone. Even so, one charred limb stretched out toward another blackened mass on the lab bench, as if reaching for it in his final moments.

From a remote monitoring station, Noah watched the scene unfold on a screen. As the charred remains cracked and crumbled into pieces, he smiled with satisfaction.

"Your wife is safe with S.H.I.E.L.D.," he muttered. "Rest easy, Reed."